"Perplex't paths": youth and authority in Milton's Mask

Blaine Greteman

doi:10.1086/599866

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"Perplex't paths": youth and authority in Milton's Mask

Journal article

Peer reviewed

"Perplex't paths": youth and authority in Milton's Mask

Blaine Greteman

Renaissance quarterly, Vol.62(2), pp.410-443

06/01/2009

DOI: 10.1086/599866

PMID: 19750599

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Abstract

This essay argues that John Milton's "A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle" (1634) is influenced by early modern concepts of childhood in a way that critics have not recognized. Childhood was a problematic concept in contemporary religious, pedagogical, and legal discourses. Children were depicted as models of submission, but prone to impetuous indiscretion, and their path to adult agency was strewn with pitfalls, especially in the liminal period of youth. "A Mask" engages with and transforms these discourses. It rejects the political quietism routinely associated with childhood and shows that the child's unique sensitivity may offer a route to a particularly powerful kind of voice.

Adolescent

Adolescent Behavior - ethnology

Adolescent Behavior - physiology

Adolescent Behavior - psychology

Adolescent Development - physiology

Anthropology, Cultural - education

Anthropology, Cultural - history

Authorship

Child

Child Development - physiology

Child Guidance - education

Child Guidance - history

Child Welfare - ethnology

Child Welfare - history

Child Welfare - psychology

Education - history

Hierarchy, Social

History, 17th Century

Humans

Literature - history

Psychology, Adolescent - education

Psychology, Adolescent - history

Publications - history

Religion - history

Social Conditions - economics

Social Conditions - history

Social Conditions - legislation & jurisprudence

Social Dominance

United Kingdom - ethnology

Details

Title: Subtitle: "Perplex't paths": youth and authority in Milton's Mask
Creators: Blaine Greteman - University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Renaissance quarterly, Vol.62(2), pp.410-443
DOI: 10.1086/599866
PMID: 19750599
ISSN: 0034-4338
eISSN: 1935-0236
Language: English
Date published: 06/01/2009
Academic Unit: English; University College Courses
Record Identifier: 9984397930502771

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3 Times Cited - Web of Science